Rainbow squid
|name = Rainbow squid|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Mollusca|class = Cephalopoda|order = Teuthida|range = 200 million AD|first = The Global Ocean|last = The Global Ocean|range2 = Global Ocean|image = Documentary= |-|VR= }} The '''rainbow squid' is a species of highly intelligent predatory squid native to the Global Ocean of 200 million AD. With a body the size of a blue whale and tentacles of a similar length, the rainbow squid is by far the biggest animal in the Global Ocean. Biology The rainbow squid is a very large animal, with a body 60-75' (20-25 meters) long, and tentacles of similar length. It has a very large brain, and is highly intelligent, even moreso than Human era squid. The rainbow squid's most distinguishing feature is its ability to change colour at will by using muscular sacs on the surface of its skin called chromatophores. These can be expanded or contracted at will, produing colour changes or flowing patterns over the whole animal. Each chromatophore is part of a complex nervous system and is controlled by a nerve, so the rainbow squid's brain is by necessity immense and very powerful. Some of the chromatophores also contain symbiotic, luminous bacteria, allowing the squid to incorporate light into its displays. Using its chromatophores, the rainbow squid can hide from sight by merging with the green of the ocean; flash up a dramatic light display to scare off potential predators; and produce a flowing pattern of coloured patches to mimic the motion of a silverswimmer shoal. Its senses are so acute that it is able to immediately choose the appropriate display for any situation. Human era cephalopods rarely lived for more than around two years, because they died after reproducing. The rainbow squid has finally escaped this "live-fast-die-young cycle" and, with almost no predators, can live for up to a hundred years. Behaviour Rainbow squids are predatory animals which attract prey by changing their appearance to mimic smaller animals. They are usually solitary animals which range across the ocean, but they gather in large groups around the shallow waters around Pangaea II's southwestern cape once a year to breed. On the night of the full moon on the autumnal equinox, the Global Ocean's entire population of rainbow squids gathers off the southwestern cape, in shallow waters near seamounts. To compete for a mate, male rainbow squids put on vivid displays of colour and light: the better the display, the more successful the individual is likely to be in hunting, and the more likely to produce equally successful offspring, so the male with the most vivid display is the most likely to mate. Ecology Rainbow squids prey on the various species of maritime ocean flish, luring them in close enough to catch by camoflauging themselves as shoals of silverswimmers. To ensure they are not themselves attacked during a hunt, they turn their bottom halves the same colour as the sky. It is not known if rainbow squids hunt silverswimmers themselves. Due to their size, rainbow squids have few enemies, but they are preyed on by sharkopaths, pack-hunting sharks. Sharkopaths can see through the camoflauge of a rainbow squid by using their sensory organs to detect electrical activity in the squid's nervous system. Appearances In the documentary In "The Global Ocean," a rainbow squid uses it camoflauge to ambush a flock of ocean flish, though it only grabs and eats a single flish. A swordfish silverswimmer is later scared off by the squid. The mating ceremony of the rainbow squid is then shown, but one of the squid is ambushed and killed by a pack of sharkopaths. In the manga In "Global Ocean," a flock of ocean flish are ambushed by a rainbow squid, which begins eating great masses of them, stuffing several into its mouth at once. The main flish of the story blacks out but manages to escape, suffering a wing injury in the process. List of appearances *''The Future Is Wild'' **1x11. The Global Ocean **''The Future Is Wild'' (US) *''The Future Is Wild: A Natural History of the Future'' *''The Future Is Wild'' (fulldome show) *''The Future Is Wild'' manga **06. Global Ocean *''The Future Is Wild: The Living Book'' *''The Future Is Wild VR'' In other languages *French - calmar arc-en-ciel *Japanese - reinbōsukuido (レインボースクイド) Navigation Category:Animals Category:Invertebrates Category:Molluscs Category:Cephalopods Category:Bioluminescent life Category:Organisms of the Global Ocean Category:Organisms of 200 million AD Category:200 million AD